Book Review: Mum's the Word by Kate Collins (Flower Shop Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters, sense of fun

Cons: Abby can act stupidly; weak climax

The Bottom Line:

Fun cozy debut

A bit weak in some places

But overall sweet

You Don't Really Expect Me to Keep Mum About This Book, Do You?

I love a good pun (or depending on who you ask, a bad pun.) As a result, the titles of the books in the Flower Shop Mysteries easily caught my eye. They each feature a deadly pun based on flowers. I've been eyeing them for years, but finally gave in and got the first, Mum's the Word. I'm certainly glad I did.

The series stars Abby Knight, owner of Bloomer's, a flower shop in a small Indiana college town. She fell into it when she dropped out of law school and her fiancee dumped her. While she enjoys it, money is always tight.

Abby started out that particular Monday high on life. Then some maniac backed his SUV into the front of her classic Corvette and drives off. Not one to suffer injustice, she gets part of his license plate and begins trying to track down the culprit.

Things turn interesting when Abby learns of a murder in a nearby apartment building. It happened just before Abby's car was hit. Could the killer be the person who hit her car? Can Abby and her car live long enough to find out?

The book is filled with warmth from the very first page. Must of that can be attributed to the writing. Abby narrates the story for us, and she is a complete delight. She's got a great sense of humor, which leads to several great laughs. And the writing just gives the book a happy feel that makes it hard to put down.

Add to that the characters. Abby has two employees, and both of them are quite fun. The potential love interest is wonderfully mysterious. Abby's family drives her crazy in a fun way. Her roommate is interesting. Even their neighbors add to the fun in their brief appearances. And don't get me started on the cat, who is charming.

In fact, the only potential problem character is Abby herself. Personally, I loved her and her quest for justice no matter the consequences. I often felt her righteous indignation while reading the book. I can see some people getting annoyed by her poor decisions. While I can only think of once near the end when she was really stupid, some people would probably label other actions that way. I probably would have done much of what she did in those circumstances, which is why I am willing to overlook her actions.

The plot does suffer a little. I didn't mind the fact that the book spent plenty of time dealing with things not related to the mystery since I truly like Abby and watching her with her family was highly entertaining. In fact, those were some of the best laughs of the book. What did bother me was the climax. While I had pieced things together myself, everything was way too rushed. In fact, a major portion was resolved by another character off page and summed up in a couple sentences. Hopefully, that was a rookie mistake. I certainly intend to find out.

Whether you love flowers or not, don't miss Mum's the Word. It's lots of fun. I look forward to reading more about Abby in the near future.